Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 34,315 Shares of Peoples Bancorp Inc. $PEBO

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its ownership in Peoples Bancorp by 6.0%, holding approximately 538,471 shares worth $15.97 million, according to its latest SEC filing.
• Peoples Bancorp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.64 and a yield of 5.4%.
• Despite missing earnings estimates for the last quarter with reported EPS of $0.60, the company's revenue was slightly above expectations at $115.02 million.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 538,471 shares of the bank's stock after selling 34,315 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.51% of Peoples Bancorp worth $15,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 1,426.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the bank's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 2,439 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Peoples Bancorp by 86.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the bank's stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $215,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Peoples Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Peoples Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $242,000. Institutional investors own 60.68% of the company's stock.

Peoples Bancorp Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEBO traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $30.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 127,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,453. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.75. Peoples Bancorp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $37.07.

Peoples Bancorp (NASDAQ:PEBO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.18). Peoples Bancorp had a net margin of 16.88% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The business had revenue of $115.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.20 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Peoples Bancorp Inc. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Peoples Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 18th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Peoples Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 56.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEBO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Peoples Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Peoples Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.25.

Insider Transactions at Peoples Bancorp

In related news, Director Dwight Eric Smith acquired 1,060 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.27 per share, with a total value of $32,086.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $211,859.73. This trade represents a 17.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol A. Schneeberger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.83, for a total value of $30,830.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $750,093.90. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.41% of the company's stock.

About Peoples Bancorp

Peoples Bancorp Inc operates as the holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts.